The study concludes that binge drinking among youth most commonly involves spirits, and binge drinking is concentrated within a relatively small number of brands. It says that understanding factors related to brand preference could assist prevention efforts.

Industry officials dispute the study's merit.

Phil Lynch, vice president, director of corporate communications and public relations of Brown-Forman, said in an email that it is "another bogus study that ignores both the University of Michigan's Monitoring the Future research and the very recent Centers for Disease Control study that shows that underage drinking is an all-time low." He also referred to it as "anti-alcohol advocacy dressed up in a thinly veiled costume of pseudo research."

In a statement, Frank Coleman, senior vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based Distilled Spirits Council, called it an agenda-driven study.

"According to government research, the vast majority of underage drinkers — 91.3 percent — do not purchase their own alcohol, but rather obtain it from parents and other legal-age adults," the statement said.